Wire stretcher

ABSTRACT

A wire stretcher including a disc with retaining teeth about the periphery thereof. A staple formed from a round metal bar extends through a pair of openings in the disc, and the free ends of the staple are spread apart to retain the staple in the disc. A handle is releasably attached to the center portion of the staple for rotating the disc and applying tension to a wire initially threaded between the free ends of the staple.

1 1 WIRE STRETCHER [76] lnventor: Kermit M. De Haai, RR. 1,

Monroe, Iowa 50170 221 Filed: Oct. 20, 1971 [21] Appl. No.: 191,001

[52] US. Cl. 24/7l.2, 403/155 [51] Int. Cl A44b 21/00 [58] Field of Search 24/71 CT, 71.2, 71.1;

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 409,434 8/1889 Taylor et al. 24/7l.2 973,034 10/1910 Graham 24/71.2

1,476,026 12/1923 Barber 24/71.2 1,606,221 11/1926 Hergesheimer 24/71.2

2,399,119 4/1946 Howell 85/83 2,529,692 Holmes 85/83 June 11, 1974 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 1,264,002 5/1962 France... 24/71.2

641,849 4/1928 France...., ,L 24/71.2

Primary Examiner-Bobby R. Gay Assistant Examiner-Darrell Marquette Attorney, Agent, or FirmHenderso n & Strorn [57 1 ABSTRACT A wire stretcher including a disc with retaining teeth about the periphery thereof. A staple formed from a round metal bar extends through a pair of openings in the disc, and the free ends of the staple are spread apart to retain the staple in the disc. A handle is releasably attached to the center portion-of the staple for rotating the disc and applying tension to a wire initially threaded between the free ends of the staple.

1 Claim, 6 Drawing Figures PATENIEDJUHH 191 3815180 WIRE STRETCIIER -wire stretchers. The devices are used to apply tension to wires such as fence wires that have become slack for one reason or another.

Devices for this'purpose are notoriously old, and as 1 early as 1885, a wire stretcher utilizing some of the principles used in this invention was described in U.S. Pat. No. 316,039. In 1894, a wire stretcher was described in U.S. Pat. -No. 529,648 which included a toothed disc on a slotted shaft for turning by a detachable handle. A wire stretcher very similar to the one described in U.S. Pat. No. 529,648 was subsequently described and patented in 1922 in U.S.. Pat. No. 1,410,523. Still other wire stretchers are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 409,434; 636,158; and 620,529. While all of the above described wire stretchers have been useful to some extent, nevertheless, they have each been subject to one or more of the following disadvantages. Some of these wire stretchers are unduly complicated, and therefore too expensive. Others of them subject the wire to undesirable stresses due to the fact that the tension is applied by sharp cornered sections thereof. Still others are difficult to use in that the handles for turning them tend to slip off during the tightening operation. For these and other reasons which will become apparent from the following detailed description, there has long been a need for an improved wire stretcher which is inexpensive, simple to make and use, and which does not subject the wire to high stresses during the tightening operation.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In accordance with this invention, a wire stretcher is provided which is simple, inexpensive, effective and reliable.

The wire stretcher of this invention comprises a disc element having projecting teeth about the periphery thereof for engagement of a tightened wire to prevent same from unwinding the disc element and releasing the tension of the wire. A large staple extends through the disc element, and the ends of the staple are spread to retain the staple in the disc. The center portion of the staple extends from the opposite side of the disc and is engageable with a handle for rotating the disc and staple to tighten a wire threaded between the ends of the staple. A slot in one end of the handle fits over the center portion of the staple, and a retainer clip releasably attaches the handle to the staple.

After the wire is stretched, by rotation of the disc, one of the projecting teeth engage the wire to prevent unwinding of the disc. The handle is then removed and the disc and staple remains on the wire. Thus, as is common in the art, one handle is all that is needed for a plurality of disc and staple combinations.

It is an object of this invention to provide an improved fence stretcher.

It is a further object to provide a fence stretcher which is simple, effective, and which can be operated without the handle slipping and without the wire working off the stretcher.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a top plan view of a wire stretcher in accordance with the invention. v

FIG. 2 is a side elevation of the wire stretcher of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a view taken along the lines 3-3 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view showing the 0 arrangement of parts of the invention.

7 by the disc and staple combination of this invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to the drawings, FIGS. l-4 show a wire stretcher indicated generally at 10. A disc 11 is shown having teeth 12-15 about the periphery thereof. A staple 16 extends through a pair of holes formed in the disc 11, with the free ends 17 and 18 of the staple l6 oriented away from the plane of the disc, 11 as best seen in FIGS. 2' and 3. Also, as seen in FIGS. 2 and 3, the teeth 12-15 are inclined away from the plane of the disc 11 on the same side as the free ends I7 and18 of the staple 16 are, for reasons to be pointed out below.

The free ends 17 and 18 of the staple 16, after insertion through the aforementioned pair of holes in the disc 11, are spread apart slightly (FIG. 2) so that the staple will thenbe permanently affixed to the disc 11.

site side from the free ends 17 and 18 and the teeth A handle 21 having a slot 22 formed near one end thereof is attached to the disc and staple combination by inserting thecenter portion 19 of the staple 16 through the slot 22. A spring clip retainer 23 attached to the center portion 19 of the staple retains the handle 21 on the disc and staple combination during operation of the device, and eliminates the prior art problem of the handle slipping off during operation of the stretcher. The handle 21 also preferably includes an extension 24 (FIGS. 2 and 4) which extends more or less at a right angle from the main body of the handle 21.

. the stretcher l0, and one of the teeth engages the wire to prevent the disc from unwinding (FIG. 4), the retainer 23 can be removed from the staple l6 and the rate disc and staple combination. It will be appreciated that any one of the teeth 12-15 may engage the wire 20, depending on the amount of slack to be drawn. up. Also, only one of the teeth needs to engage the wire to effectivelyhold same.

Any suitable material can be used to form the various parts of this wire stretcher. The disc may be formed The operation of the wire stretcher will now be de- 15 scribed. initially, the handle 21 is attached to a disc and staple combination with a retainer 23 as described above. The disc 11 is then placed against a wire 20 to be tightened such that the wire 20 passes between the free ends 17 and 18 of the staple as shown in FIG. 5. The stretcher is then rotated counterclockwise as viewed in FIG. 5 by movement of the handle 21 until the wire 20 is tightened, due to looping around staple ends 17 and 18 (FIG. 6), the desired amount. The tooth forms a notch which catches wire and prevents the disc 11 from unwinding. Also, the spread free ends of the staple cause the wire to work toward the disc 11 such that the wire does not tend'to work loose from the disc and staple combination.-

When the wire is tightened the desired amount, and locked in place with the disc tooth, the handle 21 is re moved after slipping off the retainer 23 from the center portion of the staple.

The handle 21 can then be reused as described above with one or more additional disc and staple combina tions. Any number of the disc and staple combinations may be used to effect the desired stretching or tightening of a wire.

It is understood that the above description of the preferred embodiment of the invention is for purposes of illustration, and that numerous modifications or variations 'could be made'without departing from the true scope thereof, which is to be defined by the appended claims.

v I claim:

1.'A device for use in stretching wire including: a disc having a plurality of teeth means extending outwardly from the plane of the disc, said disc having a pair of staple receiving openings formed therein; and a a U-shaped, unitary staple, the free ends of which extend through said staple receiving openings, said free ends having been spread apart after having been inserted through said openings and being continually biased oppositely away from each other to provide the sole support for retaining said staple in place, the said free ends extending outwardly from the plane of said disc on the same side as said teeth means, the curved portion of the staple extending outwardly of said disc on the opposite side thereof,

said curved portion adapted to receive .a handle for rotating said device, and said legs adapted to receive the wire to be stretched. 

1. A device for use in stretching wire including: a disc having a plurality of teeth means extending outwardly from the plane of the disc, said disc having a pair of staple receiving openings formed therein; and a U-shaped, unitary staple, the free ends of which extend through said staple receiving openings, said free ends having been spread apart after having been inserted through said openings and being continually biased oppositely away from each other to provide the sole support for retaining said staple in place, the said free ends extending outwardly from the plane of said disc on the same side as said teeth means, the curved portion of the staple extending outwardly of said disc on the opposite side thereof, said curved portion adapted to receive a handle for rotating said device, and said legs adapted to receive the wire to be stretched. 